These are possibly the most numerous Cruiser class in the Imperium, they have a versatile compliment of weapons for virtually any adversary a cruiser may encounter.

By Imperial standards she is can hold a decent lick of speed, is typically armoured for an Imperial cruiser, and could be Upgraded to carry a Nova cannon on the TT (from what I've heard) for an extra 60 Pts for so.

Weaknesses: Jack of all trades master on non. She has exactly one battery on each type of weapon resulting in her fire-power lacking saturation at long range, and lacking the monster DPS/DPM of Sister cruisers of other classes in close quarter combat. There are also faster and better armoured cruisers out there.

No strike craft. Serious issue for some, although I personally am not a fan of strike craft heavy fleets.

Notable appearance of this workhorse in the Gothic Wars was the when one squadron of Lunar class cruisers crippled Abbadons flagship, Planet Killer, with their torpedoes. The Warship's current status is unknown, but the engagement just highlights that these numerous and humble warships are not to underestimated. No wonder they make up the back-bone of most Imperial fleets!

I introduce to you, the Gothic class.This ship was built with the intention of filling the role of the apocalypse battleship, which was to do massive damage to enemy vessels through their shields using a vast number of lance batteries, but on a smaller, quicker and more easily mass produced chassis.

The ship design had very serious issues from the word go.The ships armour had to be striped down due to the unacceptable weight the cruiser would have if it where armoured similarly to the Lunar class (the Imperium takes standardisation very seriously), so major areas of the ship where left unarmored, this was also done as the lance power conduits proved too complicated and time consuming to produce along with armour on most worlds.The ship was also not popular with many admirals, as the Lances often proved too weak to cripple cruiser type vessels (like the Apocalypse could) in one salvo but required too much power to be charged into them for them to be fired quickly (as they may over heat and explode or just fail to fire if not charged correctly).This lead to the saying: 'A lone Gothic, is a dead Gothic', as the ship had to be escorted by another cruiser to be effective against most enemies.

Despite its initial failures, the Gothic class quickly found a niece: being an incredible counter to escort type vessels.Despite its lack of armour, it was armoured enough to withstand hits from escorts.It may not be the fastest, but it could keep up with battleships and other cruisers.And the concentrated and highly accurate lance strikes from a Gothic class cruiser where perfect for picking off frigates and destroyers as they attempted to close in on fleets for attack runs.

The ship served an instrumental role in the Gothic wars also, where they served as convoy escorts and proved very effective against the massed hordes of human and ork pirate raids. So, a ship with a rocky history, that later proved itself a worthy addition to a fleet for fans of high DPS lances and crushing escort-heavy fleets.

This ship has roughly average armour and speed, but has a terrifying array of weapons for a ship of her weight class, being the only cruiser to boast a Nova canon as standard and Heavy Macro batteries equal in strength to the Mighty Retribution Class battleship. The idea behind the design was quite simple. The cruiser would deploy in small groups behind the main battle line, using its Nova cannon to cripple any large enemy vessels attempting to break the line, and moving in to plug gaps and hunt stragglers with their massive macro batteries.In the offensive, a pack of them would use their nova cannons to cause mass confusion and destruction as they close on enemy battle groups, get inside their formation, and tear it open as the Heavy Macro Cannons roar into life.

The cruiser wasn't unstoppable though, she was vulnerable to Ordnance and lacked strike craft or Lance batteries to defend herself effectively against smaller vessels. The Nova Cannon and Heavy Macro batteries also had a slow rate of fire, so anything that could withstand the first salvo was likly to be able to destroy the warship.

Regardless, the ship was very successful, and adored by both her crews and admirals for her reliability and flexibility on the battlefield.However the ship really came into her own in the Gothic War. One Dominator, the Hammer of Justice, found herself in an ambush where she was flanked by a pair of Chaos Carnage class cruisers: The Dominator proceeded to reduce both cruisers to floating hulks in seconds under a full barrage from both broadsides.Another, the Depth of Fury, desperately defended the shine world of Kathur against a fleet lead by the dreaded Death Guard legion flagship: Terminus Est. The Depth of Fury destroyed scores of escorts, a Styx Class Cruiser, and vaporised several decks on the Terminus Est with a shot from her Nova Cannon (coming very close to destroying the massive warship), before succumbing to catastrophic damage done across 90% stricken cruiser's decks. No Imperial survivors where found on board.

Overall, a ship built to hit above her weight. A highly successful career, adored by Admirals and crews and legendary reputation carved out by her incredible fire power.This ship is the heavy hitter of the cruisers.

This Warship represents a break from Imperial tradition in Macro cannon technology, utilising Plasma based Macro cannons instead of projectile based weaponry. The intention of such weapons was an experiment in early M38 to try and extend the range of the Macro weaponry on Imperial warships. They mostly succeeded in their purpose, with the balls of fusing Plasma having double the range of conventional Imperial Macro cannons. But their was a catch: the Plasma began to fade and fizzle out at the range most Imperial warships would engage at, meaning it could only really damage unshielded escorts at max range. Although the short ranged effects of these weapons where grizzly: at the area of impact molecules literally fused together and chunks of the ships hull where vaporised, the heat radiation would also make it impossible for most Lances to safely return fire if hit by a salvo at close range.

The Tyrant was the first to be equipped with these weapons. She is also characterized by her slow speed and strong armour for a cruiser, which is due to power having to be taken out of the engines to be diverted into the extensive cooling system that runs through the Tyrant and the Armour is their to negate the speed weakness and give the Tyrant a chance to get close.

She mostly went under the radar in her early life, due to the limited numbers of the cruiser due to the experimental weapons being only constructed by forge worlds, but by M39 industrial worlds where also able to construct Tyrant class cruisers in their shipyards. Tyrant experienced a sudden boom in popularity in this time, rapidly replacing the Lunar class as the preferred line-cruiser, the heavy armour and powerful, extended range, Macro weaponry making them ideal cruisers to accompany battleships and battlecruisers in the line of battle.As her limited stopping power at range became better known however, she fell from favour with many admirals, and her low speed meant she was ill suited for a chase and couldn't quickly react to changing battle situations.

Despite her fall from popularity with some fleets, a sizable number of the Tyrant class vessels where in service with Battle fleet Gothic by the outbreak of the Gothic war. The Tyrant proved her worth in various major battles, added solidarity to cruiser formations and making excellent escorts for battleships: as the Plasma batteries where superior for taking down smaller targets, allowing the battleships to focus on larger targets un molested.Ultimately, a solid and dependable cruiser, with a talent for escorting battleships and close range knife fights.

This warship was originally built as a stop gap measure from the wrecks of destroyed Lunar classes, where damage and destroyed interiors where taken out to make room for a hanger deck and Lance batteries removed for Launch bays. This ship was built to address the desperate need for carriers in Battle fleet Gothic, and the Dictator served its role as a cruiser/light carrier hybrid admirably well for a ship class built from wrecks. They would escort convoys, Flagship long range patrols and packs of them would flush Orks and Pirates out of asteroid fields with swarms of bombers for them and the rest of the fleet to blow them apart under massed Macro cannon fire.

The Dictator class quickly came into high demand during the Gothic War: with purpose-built Dictator class, with improved auspex sensors and superior engines for greater long-range strike potential. The Dictator class rapidly replace the Lunar class and ineffective Escort carriers as the primary escort cruiser, the Dictator class also proved instrumental in the destruction of the Primary base of operations for Ork and human pirates: Pirates' Haven.Such was the ships success, that by the end of the Gothic War, the Dictator class outnumbered the Lunar class and had largely replaced them as the Primary fleet cruiser.

Not only that but one Dictator, the Lord Solar Macharius, gained great fame for being the ship belonging to Flag-Captain Leoten Semper: who was the first in managing to get detailed Auspex scans of Planet Killer to the battle fleet top-brass, routed a Chaos Armada besieging Helia IV and secured cooperation between Eldar and imperial forces in the latter stages of the war.

The Dictator class can be summarized as a highly successful and popular cruiser in the Gothic sector: filling the role of cruiser, long range patrol and escort ship; and an excellent warship for dealing with pirates.The light carrier of the Imperial navy.

This Warship is the imperial answer to the potent Chaos Acheron Class Heavy Cruiser.The ship has generally all-round good characteristics: Being fairly well armoured, decently fast and an array of heavy weapons that would typically be found on a Retribution class battleship: with a well rounded compliment of powerful Heavy Macro cannons, torpedoes and dorsal Lances. The ship is also one of a rare breed of Imperial vessel that finds itself with surplus energy reserves from its advanced reactor, able to dramatically increase it's lances range and rate of fire or suddenly put on enough speed to leave escorts far behind: although captains are put under strict orders to not abuse this unless absolutely necessary, as the Reactor frequently burns out and malfunctions if overused.

The Overlord does however lack a Nova cannon and hanger bays, so her long range strike and burst potential is low. As well as being vulnerable to strike craft without an escort.

Regardless to say, the ship is adored by both Admirals and Captains: Captains for its survivability and speed, and Admirals for its ability to supplement the Firepower of a Retribution class battleship is necessary. This has earned the Overlord the Reputation as 'The poor mans Retribution', due to her lack of Armour and cheaper construction when compared to the Battleship, although the Overlord has strengths all to her own: mainly in the form of very respectable speed. This had lead to the Overlord becoming a staple of almost any large Imperial fleet, being found in Battle fleets across the Imperium.

Battle fleet Gothic had a large number of Overlord Class BCs in service by the time of the Gothic War.These warships saw extensive service in nearly every major fleet engagement of the war, serving from beginning to end. One of them, the Sword of Retribution, would go on to serve against Hive Fleet Leviathan after successfully defending several key positions from massed waves of Chaos attackers. Another, the Flame of Purity, can be credited with turning the final battle of the War in the favour of the Eldar/Imperial fleet: her captain flying the ship in the path of the beam of 3 Blackstone fortresses, preventing the destruction of the Shindlegiest System and forcing Abaddon to flee in the face of overwhelming opposition.

This Battlecruiser is the a staple of Imperial ship-building philosophy, with excellent firepower, sturdy construction and enough speed to keep targets in range long enough to reduce them to blasted hulks.This Battlecruiser is the Close-mid range brawler of the Battlecruisers.

The Mars class has about average speed and armour, but its weapons load out certainly was designed with flexibility in mind: with Nova cannon and Launch bays for long range strike support, and Dorsal Lances and Heavy Macro Cannons for tearing apart enemy cruisers at mid range and in close quarters. The original intention of the Battlecruiser is unknown, given the secretive nature of its origin and the design's incredible age.

This Warship has seen perhaps the most dramatic change of favour in the history of imperium of man.One of the oldest Battlecruiser classes, originally exclusively produced by the Ring of Iron Ship yards of Mars, spent its first few millennia of existence being ridiculed by most of the Imperial Navy for being 'under-gunned' for a Battlecruiser: the Overlord Class later being seen as vastly superior. So no Forge Worlds other than Mars constructed the ship, no orders were placed for the ship and construction of the Ship was halted entirely by M39.Now, the Mars class is one of the most common and respected ship classes in the Imperium, largely replacing the Overlord as the primary Battlecruiser with Battlefleets Calixis and Kronos. The Mars classes performance in the Gothic war directly responsible for this dramatic shift in popularity.

Despite this, its rarity and initial unpopularity, a pair of venerable Mars Class vessels were serving with Battlefleet Gothic when Abaddon launched his offensive. Both vessels served in nearly every major fleet engagement of the war, cementing a fearsome reputation for their high kill tallies among Pirate and Chaos fleets: proving to be exactly the ship that the Battlefleet needed, with long range firepower and carrier capacity on chassis that was entirely capable of fulfilling long range escort/patrol duties with few escorts of its own.Although neither did anything especially notable, the fact that they had proven the Mars class to be such a powerful and valuable asset to any large fleet had caught the attention of much of the Imperial navy: their performance proving impressive enough to warrant Imperium-wide mass production to commence in M41 and adoption into every major Battlefleet.This Battlecruiser is the swiss army knife of the BCs when it comes to firepower, having a weapon to counter any foe a fleet may face, earning its wide-spread adoption, despite its rocky start with the 'Big-Gun Lobby' Admirals.

This ship was a hurried class of warship, built exclusively from the wrecks of Lunar class cruisers in Battlefleet Armageddon, to try and increase the rate at which 'new' capital ships could be produced to feed the high attrition rate of the Wars for Armageddon. The Battlecruiser keeps the Lance batteries from the Lunar class, and much of the interior is left untouched. But that is where similarities end: a second plasma reactor is placed in an extended rear section to power the dorsal lances and extend the range of all lance weapons on the ship, macro Cannons removed and replaced for Heavy Macro cannon and armour hastily applied to nearly every major section of the ship to try and prevent the ship from becoming a wreck again.

The ship itself served it's purpose well. It provided Battlefleet Armageddon with a further means to replace losses in the ongoing war against the Ork hordes, and the larger array of weapons and greater survivability enhancing the performance of the ship in combat 10-fold when compared to the Lunar class they once were: having firepower comparable to a Battleship.However, the ship does have one glaring weakness: it is hellishly cramped. The ship, despite extensive hull extensions on most variants, isn't much larger than the Lunar class it is based of off... yet carried 3,500 more crew members to service the greater number of weapons and power conduits.

This glaring weakness is what has largely prevented Battle fleet Gothic from adopting the design.The short effective operation range making it poorly suited to the long range Escort and Patrol errands, which are common in the spread-out Gothic sector, and the lack of carrier capacity making it incompatible with the Fleets preferences.Although other Battle Fleets have since been seen making their own variants of the Armageddon Battle Cruiser from their Lunar casualties.

The Mercury class battlecruiser was a ship constructed by the special request of Admiral Knightsbridge of Battlefleet Bakka in the immediate aftermath of the gothic war, with the intention of creating a ship with the specific function of chasing down and killing pirates and raiders. Armed with a Nova cannon to vapourise groups of escorts and hard targets at range, Dorsal Lances to pick off Escorts and finish crippled enemies and heavy macro cannons for tearing apart anything it could close with.

The design was finished quickly by Imperial standards, being finalised in two centries. This was due to the ship taking heavy inspiration from the Dominator class cruiser design, but enlarged and with the power plant that would typically be found in a battleship.The result was an incredibly fast vessel, easily able of out pacing and catching escorts, and an array of weapons well suited to destroying enemy cruisers and grouped up escorts. The Battlecruiser was also excellent for responding to rapidly changing tactical situations, able to outrun anything bigger and outgun anything smaller.

The design did have flaws however, hurried design and production meant that many were left very poorly armoured on key areas of the ship. This lead to early battles being catastrophic failures, as the ship was employed like any normal battlecruiser by flag captains but the lack of armour meant they often became floating wrecks as a result. Which damaged the reputation of the Mercury enough to make it a rare sight outside of Battlefleet Bakka.This ship is the crowd-control and rapid-response BC of the Imperial fleet.

Chalice Class

The Chalice Class battlecruiser was an experiment performed by the Admirals of Battlefleet Calixis to improve the speed with which the imperial navy could deploy heavy firepower to key strategic locations in sectors. The Battlecruiser was classed as a 'Fast Heavy Cruiser' by her native Battlefleet, her design very much being of the 'Faster than anything bigger, Bigger than anything faster' line of thinking: being armed with an impressive number of Macro cannons and a compliment torps and of Dorsal Lances to provide options for engagement of larger targets and dealing with escorts/cruisers at mid-range.

The speed of the Challice Class far out stripped its compatriots, being the fastest capital ship produced in millennia by the time of her construction: this would be both her greatest strength and her downfall. The stress placed upon the plasma generators that propelled the ship was such that they had a nasty tendency to rupture, she also lacked armour, as the Imperial ship designers where under the impression that any enemy would be dead or far too slow to catch and kill the Chalice. Both of these major weaknesses making her an unpopular choice for large fleet engagements, however she is still a prized ship for her rarity, incredible speed and breath taking beauty for an imperial production vessel.This ship is the rapid-response and strike BC of the Imperial fleet.

Jovian herself spent her life as a Mars Class Battlecruiser. Having served with Mars, Battlefleet Gothic and fighting her final battle with Battlefleet Bakka against Hive Fleet Behemoth while trying to defend Macragge along with the rest of her Battlefleet, the Ultramarines chapter fleet and Battlefleet Tempestus. But her story didn't end there.The wreck of the venerable Mars class would find herself the centre of attention for the Imperial admiralty, as the lesson learned from the battle with the new tyranid threat had taught them that only lances and Strike craft mattered in a fight vs the tyranids: as staying at long range from their menacing short range vessels was all that mattered.

The idea was to have the ship's Nova cannon and macro cannons striped to make room for more hanger capacity and free up power for superior engine function and Lance range. Although the idea repulsed the more hard-line 'Big-Gun Lobby' admirals, who insisted that lances where the way forward against the tyranids, the design went ahead: the destroyed Nova cannon and prow armour replaced with a new prow, and lance batteries removed for more hanger capacity.

The newly created Jovian Class would go to see large scale production with Battlefleet Gothic, and lesser production with other battle fleets. The Jovian class seeing extensive service against Orks, raiders and Tyranids across the Imperium in M41.The Jovian is the Standard Carrier of the Imperial fleet.

Dominion Class

The Dominion Class was designed as a modern replacement for the aging Mars Class design, proposed by the Fleet-Lords of Battlefleet Bakka. The idea behind the design was to create a vessel with firepower more akin to an Apocalypse Class Battleship, but with superior Speed, cheaper production costs and not sacrificing the Hanger capacity (Carriers being in desperately short supply for Battlefleet Bakka at the time).

The designers with Battlefleet Bakka apparently didn't learn from the Gothic class.The firepower of the Lances proving ineffective against anything larger than an escort, and the Hanger capacity was no greater than that of a Dictator class Cruiser, which was much faster and cheaper to produce.

The Dominion class did shine against the Tyranids in the First Tyrannic War, where the combination of Lances (which had a grizzly effect on the bio-ships of the Tyranids, much like a long range flame-thrower in space) and strike craft (as staying at range and keeping the massive ships distracted was key to survival in fleet engagements against the Tyranids) proved very effective against the Tyranids. However the slow rate of fire of the Lances did mean they had to deployed in groups or with heavy escorts to used to their full effect.The Dominion is a Heavy Cruiser/Carrier Hybrid.

This Warship has been pride of Imperial fleets for over ten-thousand years, alongside the equally ancient Retribution Class, and has been serving the Imperium as the mainstay and Flagship of nearly every major fleet. The large number of massive Heavy Macro Cannons being powered by massive plasma reactors able to propel the massive projectiles far beyond the range of most cruisers and Battlecruisers and smash them into unrecognisable burning hulks; and great swarms of strike craft able to choke any attempt by smaller vessels to destroy the ponderous warship as well as reach out and strike fleets from frightening ranges due to the advanced long range auspex.The Emperor Class is also commonly used to bring powerful re-discovered colonies and rouge human empires into line with Imperium: able to choke the atmosphere with swarms of 70-metre-long bombers and fighters and the massive imposing shape blotting out the sun above the planet's capital from low orbit.

The Emperor Class Battle honours are beyond counting: having served a major role in nearly every major conflict in the Imperium for over ten millennia, the Gothic war was no exception. Lord Admiral Von Ravenburg, Leader of Battlefleet Gothic, lead his Battlefleet against Abaddon from the Bridge of the ancient Emperor Class warship the Divine Right. A Warship that was found fused with a ancient Chaos space hulk, somehow still uncorrupted by the taint of chaos and largely functional, despite having been fused with a Chaos ship (presumably from a last ditch ramming from her former captain) and lost in the Warp since the Horus Heresy.The warship displayed an incredible resistance to Chaos weaponry, and Von Ravenburg ultimately broke Abaddon's armada at the Battle of Gethseman using the ship. Where he and his battlefleet plowed into the centre of the chaos formation, destroying several of Abaddon's largest warships and causing massive casualties, forcing a retreat straight into a carefully prepared Eldar Ambush from the allied Eldar fleet. His ship not only survived the battle, but lead from the front with no critical damage taken, and pursued the Warmaster and his surviving warships after the Ambush to the Schindlegist system where the Divine Right would destroy 3 of Abbadon's Blackstone Fortresses using her massive Macro Cannons.

The ship continues to serve as Battlefleet Gothics Flagship: the ships renown being such that a monument of the vessel was built on Terra, next to a statue of her Captain Von Ravensburg, and inscriptions of the names of all those who served with the Battlefleet (from the Von Ravensburg Himself, to the lowliest merchants).

The Emperor Class is a common, and rousing, sight within large fleets: being as much a moral boosting ship as it is a massive threat to any adversary.This ship is the flagship and fleet Carrier of every major Imperial fleet.

This Class of warship is the backbone, and muscle, of the Imperial navy: having the most armour and most ferociously powerful broadsides of any class in the Imperial Navy (which is are both impressive claims given the competition), very few classes in any Navy able to challenge her power in a gunnery duel. The Retribution is the Ultimate expression of Imperial ship-building process, being the absolute zenith and purest incarnation of Imperial Naval doctrine, standing for everything the Imperium values most in a vessel: Firepower and protection.

The ships armament is an all-big-gun layout of Heavy Macro cannons (an Impressive 12 of the huge cannons per side), two batteries of dorsal lances to fend of escorts and finish off crippled opponents and a group of huge torpedo launchers, able to cripple other capital ships with one salvo. The ship also boasts an impressive powerplant, which allows it to boost the range of the cannons and lances beyond the reach of most BC and Cruisers.The Ship's tactical application is simple, unchanged for millennia, and terrifyingly effective. The ship closes with its enemy, firing a swarm of massive torpedos into the mass of enemy vessels, the massive adamantine prow protecting against all but the very heaviest of enemy fire: and then opening up with a devastating barrage of Heavy Macro Cannon fire, crippling or destroying anything unlucky or foolish enough to find itself in the path of the broadside.The ship is also the Backbone of any large battleline, providing the heaviest fire support and the most well protected hull to the line of warships.

The Warship has seen service in nearly every major Imperial conflict for over ten millennia, alongside her sister class the Emperor Class, and earned great renown and a fearsome reputation from countless battles. Battlefleet Gothic, like all major Battle Fleets, fielded several these Battleships in fleet formations. Battlefleet Gothic's Retribution battleships where all ancient warships, dating back to the earliest days of the Imperium: one of them, Bloodhawk, had served against the largest Ork Waraah in history lead by the legendary Ork warboss The Beast, served during the age of apostasy as well as serving loyalist forces in the Horus heresy. These venerable vessels proved devastating wherever they engaged, dominating the flow of the battle as their heavy broadsides tour apart battleship and cruiser alike.

This Battleship is the pureset expression of what the term Battleship is intended to mean, with unmatched firepower and immensely thick armour and shielding.This Battleship is the battleship of the Imperial Navy.

This warship is truly an Ancient design, the ship pre-dating the Horus Heresy by at least a millennia, best estimates putting the original designs age as far back as the beginning of the Great Crusade and the birth of the Imperium of Man. The ship is a rare gem in the Imperial Navy, production of the Mighty vessel no longer possible, much of the technology and means of production for the ship being since lost in the mists of time: this makes the ship highly prized and a great loss to the Imperium if lost (the Class being named 'The Queen of the Void'). Many attempts have since been made to try and replicate the vessels might, but most have failed horribly.The ship class herself is an awesomely powerful Battleship, being equipped with a Nova cannon and a vast number of long range lances, having firepower in one broadside comparable to the Retribution Class: however a slow rate of fire means that Retribution keeps the crown for most powerful broadsides. However, the lances prove to have various strengths over the more common Macro broadsides: they are more accurate (meaning they are devastating to escorts and light cruisers), they ignore heavy armour and are more effective vs void shielding (meaning that battleships have much to fear from an Apocalypse's broadside) and the Nova cannon is the perfect weapon for dealing with any escapees or for causing mass destruction and confusion as the Battleship closes in on her prey.

The Battleship, despite the increasing rarity of the Class, can be found in service with nearly every major Battlefleet: able to reduce any enemy fleet to a collection of burning hulks in seconds (with only a small escort required to protect against strike craft). Despite this, the Battleship did not reportedly take part in the Gothic War, but is a popular (and surprisingly common) warship with Battlefleet Armageddon: serving as a perfect counter to the escort heavy, short rang and tough Ork fleets; the large number of lances carving through their heavy armour from far outside their effective engagement range.

Overall, this vessel is a terrifying opponent to behold, able to reduce whole fleets to chunks of molten slag in an incredibly short period of time: the awesome power and increasing rarity of the ancient vessel making her a highly sought after Battleship by many Admirals of the Imperial Navy.This warship is the sniper and heavy fire-support battleship of the Imperial navy.

This ship is believed to be as old as the Apocalypse Class, having no dedicated Imperial shrine (like the Apocalypse) girven it's more secular history. The ship is also widely believed to be the ship that the Emperor class was built from (having suspiciously similar interiors and auspex equipment) but the exact age, purpose and origin of the design is shrouded in mystery. The ship also becoming increasingly rare, production of the vessel having long-ago ceased in favour of her successor the Emperor Class.The Oberon Class herself is a swiss army knife among battleships, having at least one battery of all standard Imperial weapons used in the Imperial navy: a Launch Bay, a Lance Battery, a Battery of Heavy Macro cannons, Torpedo Launchers and Dorsal Lances.This gives the Oberon options, a lot of options, for dealing with just about any enemy a battleship may face: sending a mixed assault of torpedoes, Macro cannons shells, lance bolts and strike craft which is very hard for any-one adversary to defend against alone. The ship also features advanced auspex sensors: allowing the ship to detect incoming enemies and launch a retaliation strike, from whatever of her weapon systems are in range, before they are even aware of the Battleships presence.

This combination, together with the trademark heavy Imperial Battleship armour, makes the Battleship perfect for long range patrols, heavy escort duty and small-scale engagements: able to remain self-sufficient for extended periods of time, with minimal escort required, able to deal with any adversary she may run into.

However this versatility is also her biggest weakness. She can't produce the swarms of fighters that an Emperor or Nemesis can, match the awesome raw firepower of the Apocalypse or Retribution or even hope to hold a candle to the insane speed of the Invincible class. This has lead the Oberon to be rarely seen in major fleet engagements in the Imperium: often being held in reserve to scout out dangerous or contested areas of space, provide heavy escort to critical convoy operations and take part in extended patrols in occupied space for enemy threats.Oberon Class battleships did see serve with Battlefleet Gothic in the Gothic War filling these roles, but never took part in any of the main fleet engagements: seen as an inferior choice to the Retribution for line combat, and less effective in flagship duties when compared to the Emperor.

Overall, this battleship is ultimate Jack-of-all-trades among the battleships, rarely serving with the main fleet formations: but serving pivotal roles behind the scenes of many large conflicts across the Imperium.

This warship is the brain-child of Admiral Kisher, of Battlefleet Tempestus, in early M38.The admiral was a very frustrated man. He was tired of Ork pirates, Heretical raiders and Eldar corsairs constantly slipping inside the borders of the Imperium and reaping havoc on supply convoys: and then the Imperial fleet being unable to chase down and catch the assailants without suffering casualties. The Invincible Class was Kisher's answer to 'The Pirate Problem'. The ship combined the fearsome firepower of the Retribution, with the speed and mobility of a light cruiser.The concept of how the ship would perform was quite simple: the battleship would hunt in packs, with a small escort of light cruisers for dealing with any close-in opponents, and destroy roving pirates and raiders. The ship could also mercilessly chase down enemy light cruisers and cruisers, attempting to escape after a raid of on friendly convoys.

The ship did however have one serious flaw: her armour.Despite being frequently told that the massive power conduits that powered the ship's propulsion were too poorly protected, and being recommended to go with a smaller power-plant by many magos within the Mechanicus, Kisher (and his supporters) wouldn't do anything to the design if it sacrificed speed. The result was the Warship being very poorly armoured for an Imperial Battleship, having armour that would normally be found on an Imperial cruiser.This, together with its similar appearance to the more common and well-known Retribution Class, meant that many admirals employed the ship like a retribution in the main line of battle with disastrous results. This lead to widespread disillusionment with the design, the Invincible Class vessels being referred to as 'Kisher's Kombustibles'.

However, when used in her intended role and as a heavy escort, she was devastatingly effective.One Eldar fleet came across a group of 4 Invincible Class vessels patrolling in the Tempestus sector. The Eldar captain seeing what was in front of him as a gift, mistaking the 4 Invincibles for 4 Retributions caught without their escorts (as the Invisible does look similar to the Retribution), believing the cumbersome vessels would be unable to react and catch his much more nimble ships.The Eldar captain launched the surprise attack, destroying the light escort compliment and damaging the starboard batteries on one of the Invincibles, and then breaking off to make another run... only to discover in horror that the huge Imperial vessels were keeping pace with his ships and slowly destroying them under massed Heavy Macro Cannon fire.Caught off guard and desperate to regroup and re-esses the situation the Eldar attempted to retreat, only to be relentlessly pursued by these surprisingly nimble Imperial Battleships. Unable to run, and with no clear edge over the larger warships, the Eldar were slaughtered to the last under a barrage of Heavy Macro fire.

Despite being a relatively new design, predominantly seen in service with Battlefleet Gothic in M41, the Nemesis Class origins can be traced back to M36 with the 'Gareox incident' in Battlefleet Bakka. The 'Gareox incident' was a series of fleet exercises with Battlefleet Bakka, between the 'Young school' Admirals and the 'Big-Gun lobby' admirals, to prove the combat effectiveness of their fleet concepts and designs (diplomacy and politics having broken down after a millenia of stalemate) and was effectively an Imperial Civil-War in the Bakka sub-sector. The 'Young school' where insistent that Battleships and macro cannons were obsolete, fast attack carriers and long range lances where the way forward for the Imperial Navy. However the combat saw the tried and tested Imperial designs winning out over the experimental Despoiler Class the younger Admirals had created, the Emperor class proving vastly as both a battleship and carrier. Bitter, with their reputation destroyed among the Imperial Admiralty and with the threat of charges of Heresy for their unauthorised ship design: the desperate admirals handed their service and remaining 3 Despoilers to Chaos.

One of their early proposals (before they created the Despoiler Class and turned to chaos) was to have the Emperor Class converted into a dedicated carrier, removing the Heavy Macro cannon turrets and batteries for more hangar bays and Dorsal lances, the Emperor class would then also have a surplus of energy to greatly improve speed and lance range.This obviously repulsed by the Big-Gun lobby, who stood by and supported the old Imperial designs, being fans of line-combat and broadside warfare.However, later experiences from the Gothic War and First Tyrannic War would present the need for a dedicated fleet carrier, and (despite the design origin, and heavy stigma still placed one the ship among the admirals of Battlefleet Bakka, who protest the vessel is an affront and betrayal to the Imperial Navy) the Emperor class conversion into Nemesis Class carriers began with Battlefleet Gothic, Tempestus and Calixis in M41.

Nemesis herself had exactly the effect that her supporters had been hoping for, able to throw up vast swarms of fighters to swamp and overwhelm enemy fleets from extreme range, and long range dorsal lances for fending off closing escorts.She does require a heavy escort, another battleship, a Battlecruiser or a detachment of cruisers: but the advantages she provides over Tyranid and pirate threats are enough to cement the Nemesis as a favorite among some battle fleets in the Imperium.

The Nemesis is the (First and Only) Fleet Carrier in the Imperial Navy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Ending battleships here, I know their other classes people probably want to see but:1. I want to get through these profiles a little quicker2. There isn't a lot to write about with them, unless I double them up like I did with some of the BCs3. If you really want me to cover them, I may do it elsewhere, but I feel I've covered all of the 'main' battleships.

Last edited by CALiGeR190 on 26 February 2016, 23:38, edited 4 times in total.

Where's your Federation now?-Imperial Navy

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Konstance Kasimir wrote:Funny thing, Admiral Kisher is based on the real life admiral Jackie Fisher, who came up with the dreadnoughts and battlecruisers in the naval arms race leading up to WW1. the Invicible class is based on British battlecruisers, that had highspeed and better weaponry buy were severly deficient in armour. The lore mentiones that three such ship exploded in rapid succesion, which is a direct allegory to the Battle of Jutland where German warships destroyed three British Battlecruisers, one of which is actually named "invincible".

Yep.The ship, and all the Lore surrounding it, is a nod to the Royal Navy of the British Empire during its peak days in WWI. The Battle cruiser Class also being named the 'Invincible class'. The engagement with the Eldar fleet and the 4 Invisibles inspired by a real-life battle where 4 of the real-life Invincble BCs, along with a compliment of light cruisers ran into a German fleet of fast Armoured and Heavy cruisers. In that battle, the British light cruisers where lost in the ensuring gunnery duel, but the German raiders where hunted down and sunk by the Invincible BCs.Nice to see someone got the reference this ship represents.

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Brutoni wrote:Indeed. As a serving officer in the RN this always makes me smile. ALTHOUGH I feel that many ignore not just the example above but the example of Dogger Bank in terms of how RN Battle cruisers could have performed. I feel the lose of the 3 Invincible class was down to many factors and the armour was actually a minor one. They were utilised exceptionally poorly by Beatty who totally failed to understand some key concepts of modern warfare at the time. The primary one being the importance of keeping the blast doors shut to magazines despite the effect on ROF. Dogger bank had proved the RN BCs with inferior ROF would still come out on top. Beatty became obsessed with Nelsonian ROF and "decisive battle" failing to understand what Fisher did. The RN could "lose the War in a single battle".

BCs as a concept was sound IMHO. Just poorly implemented in WW1 and by WW2 the "fast BB" such as the Iowa that was able to keep pace with the CV replaced them.

I'm very much of the same opinion.I've always admired Fishers BC concept, his ideas essentially being an early attempt at a Rapid Response Task Force.

The Invincible Class fast BB holds many of the same advantages the BC had over her compatriots in real life (also many of the same draw back), although she also suffers from the same Admiral disillusionment as the real Invincible, being a rare ship outside of Battlefleets Tempestus, Calixis and Bakka (all of which have a doctrine for all-big-gun designs, Calixis and Tempestus having a preference for fast vessels, and Bakka having a desperate need for fast vessels being the most 'traditional' Imperial Battle fleet of mostly slow BBs and cruisers).

Where's your Federation now?-Imperial Navy

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